Before you read

Here are some pictorial glimpses of the history of our

country from 1757 to 1857. These pictures and

‘speech bubbles’ will help clarify your understanding

of the conditions that led to the event known as the

First War of Independence in 1857.

At a function in Delhi

Oh my countrymen!

Let your eyes fill with tears,

as you recall the sacrifices of

India’s martyrs.

1. The Martyrs

Rationalised 2023-24

With its superior weapons, the British

East India Company was extending its

power in 18th century India.

INDIA 1765

Indian Princes

British

Territory

Indian princes were short-sighted.

That upstart Rajah

Bah! Call the English

merchants. They will

help me to defeat him.

The people had no peace due to such constant fights.

A far-seeing ruler like the

brave Tipu of Mysore

fought the British till he

died fighting!

The rivalries helped the East India Company

and it could easily subdue Indian princes

one by one.

Thank God, there is peace

in the country now! No

more wars and no looting

by thugs !

It is God

who sent

the British!

Our destiny

is linked

with them!

How did Indians react to these conquests?

2. The Company’s conquests (1757-1849)

The white man has

killed or dethroned

our kings.

Some kings were not

good, but after all,

they were of this land.

Now we have

become slaves

of foreigners!

Glimpses of the Past

3737

Rationalised 2023-24

Honeydew

3838

Religious leaders preached ideas like untouchability and child marriage.

The truth was that Indians had lost self-respect.

The British scorned them.

Being merchants, the British wanted quick profits, their

heavy taxes forced farmers to abandon their fields.

All the misery in the

world is due to women.

But your men are

taking all my crop!

You are still in

arrears. If you don’t

pay next week. I will

send you to jail.

The natives are

unworthy of trust,

incapable of

honesty–

True, your honour,

but I am honest.

Still, the British invented other methods

which gave them more profits.

Inevitably famines followed. Between 1822 and

1836 fifteen lakh Indians died of starvation.

The British policies

ruined the expert

artisans and their

business.

A good

idea!

The goods manufactured

in England should not

have any import duty

when brought into India.

The East India Company’s

laws began to cripple

Indian industries.

3. British Rule (1765-1836)

Anyone who crosses the

seas loses his religion.

Rationalised 2023-24

Glimpses of the Past

3939

4. Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833)

Ram Mohan Roy, a learned man from Bengal,

understood what was wrong with the country.

Let us not despise ourselves, our ancient culture is

great. And we are capable of greater achievements.

We must first reform our society.

Superstitions have been

ruining us.

He told his wife Uma–

Cows are of different colours, but

the colour of their milk is the

same. Different teachers have

different opinions but the essence

of every religion is the same.

He was attracted by

science and modern

knowledge.

Knowledge should

be practical and

scientific.

He crossed the seas and

went to England to see what

made the British powerful.

There he told them–

We accept you as rulers,

and you must accept us

as subjects. But you

must remember the

responsibility a ruler

owes to his subjects.

He started

newspapers but

the suspicious

British stopped

them in 1823.

Rationalised 2023-24

Honeydew

4040

5. Oppression (1765-1835)

But the British continued to oppress Indians. In

1818, they had passed R

egulation III. Under it, an

Indian could be jailed without trial in a court.

All the time British officers in India

drew big salaries and also made

fortunes in private business.

By 1829, Britain was

exporting British goods

worth seven crore

rupees to India.

The British prospered on

the Company’s loot

while Indian industries

began to die.

Governor-General Bentinck reported

back home –

“The bones of cotton weavers are bleaching

the plains of India.”

Rationalised 2023-24

Glimpses of the Past

4141

Education in India was in Persian and

Sanskrit. In 1835, a Englishman named

Macaulay suggested a change.

6. Dissatisfaction (1835-56)

We should teach the

natives through the

English language.

I agree.

English education produced clerks to whom the British gave petty

jobs under them. Incidentally, it also produced a new generation

of intellectuals.

We must

educate our

brothers.

And try to

improve their

material

conditions.

For that we must

convey our grievances

to the British

Parliament.

By 1856, the

British had

conquered the

whole of India.

Our kings have

become puppets,

and we have lost

our old jobs.

They cared little about the needs of Indians.

And

lands. They are

converting

our brothers!

You only talk!

Do something

to drive then

out!

States

British

area

Rationalised 2023-24

Honeydew

4242

7. The Sparks (1855-57)

Taxes continued to ruin the peasants. In

Bengal, the Santhals who had lost their lands

under new land rules, became desperate. In

1855, they rose in rebellion and massacred

Europeans and their supporters alike.

Discontent was brewing in the East India Company’s army too.

The white

soldier gets

huge pay,

mansions to

live in,

servants.

While we get a

pittance and slow

promotions !

The Angrez asks us to cross

the sea which is against our

religion. Who

is the topiwala

to abolish our

age-old

customs?

We must

drive

out the

Angrez.

Thousands of other sepoys revolted. They

were stripped of their uniforms,

humiliated and put in irons.

Sepoy Mangal Pande attacked the adjutant of his regiment and

was executed.

Few Englishmen had cared

Oh, proud Brahmin

soldiers, do you know

that the grease on the

bullet you have to bite is

made from the fat of

cows and pigs?

to understand Indian

customs or the

people’s mind.

The white

man has

deceived

us too!

Soon, chapaties were sent from village

to village to tell the people that their

emperor would want their services.

Similarly lotus

flowers

circulated

among Indian

soldiers.

Death to the

foreigner !

Yes, all my

village men

will be ready.

The masses

gave all help

and shelter to

the patriots.

What ?

Rationalised 2023-24

Glimpses of the Past

4343

Then there was a violent outbreak at Meerut.

8. Revolt (1857)

The sepoys marched to Delhi.

Long live our

Emperor

Bahadur Shah !

The rebellion spread wider.

Many landlords had lost their lands because of the British

policies, and they were sore.

The white man’s

rule must end!

Yes, we will

help you.

Rationalised 2023-24

Honeydew

4444

from Our Freedom Movement

S.D. SAWANT

9. The Fight for Freedom (1857)

Many former rulers like Begum Hazrat

Mahal of Lucknow were bitter.

The white man has

taken away my

kingdom !

Popular leaders like Maulvi Ahmedulla of Faizabad told

the people –

Rise, brothers, rise !

The Angrez is ruining

our land !

They joined the upsurge against the

foreigner.

Azimulla Khan

told Tatya Tope

We should have Peshwa Nana

Saheb as our leader in this

war of independence

Eighty-year old Kunwar Singh of Bihar received

a bullet in his wrist.

Mother Ganga !

This is my last

offering to you !

The patriots pounced upon the

British and fought pitched

battles all over North India.

The people rose everywhere, in Bareilly, Kanpur and

Allahabad.

Rationalised 2023-24